Early Alexander Graham Bell recordings played

Early sound recordings by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880s are played back with new technology
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) ' Early sound recordings by telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell and others that have been stored at the Smithsonian Institution are being played back for the first time using new technology.

The recordings include a portion of Hamlet's Soliloquy, a trill of the tongue and someone reciting numbers starting with 1-2-3.

The recordings date back to the 1880s. Bell had moved from Boston to Washington after inventing the telephone and joined a growing group of scientists who made the nation's capital a hotbed for innovations. During this time, Bell sent the first wireless telephone message on a beam of light from the roof of a downtown building.

The Library of Congress partnered with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to offer a first listening session of these early recordings Tuesday.